Muth ER, Stern RM, Jokerst M, Koch KL.
Gastroenterology. 1993 Apr; 104: A1054.
Departments of Psychology and Medicine, Penn State University, University Park.
Although the anti-motion sickness effects of dimenhydrinate are well known, it is not known whether its action is entirely central or if it also has peripheral effects on the stomach. It was the purpose of this study to see if dimenhydrinate effected resting gastric myoelectric activity and/or the usual tachyarrhythmic response to vection (illusory self-motion). Twenty subjects susceptible to vection-induced motion sickness were exposed to a rotating optokinetic drum for 16 min, 3h after receiving an oral dose of either 100 mg dimenhydrinate or a placebo in two separate counter-balanced sessions at least a week apart. The electrogastrogram (EGG) was recorded immediately prior to capsule ingestion, 3h after ingestion, and during drum rotation. The EGG was spectral analyzed and the power determined for normal activity (2.5-3.75 cpm) and tachyarrhythmia (3.75-10 cpm). The results indicated that from pre-drug to 3h post-drug, subjects in the placebo condition showed no change in either EGG frequency band. However, subjects in the dimenhydrinate condition showed a significant decrease in power in both frequency bands (p=.017 and .024) from pre-drug to 3h post-drug. During drum rotation, symptoms were significantly higher in the placebo condition than in the dimenhydrinate condition (p=.0001), and significantly more subjects in the placebo condition requested that the rotating drum be terminated early (p=.03). In the placebo condition, during drum rotation tachyarrhythmia increased significantly (p=.006); in the dimenhydrinate condition there was no increase. In conclusion, we have demonstrated that dimenhydrinate is effective in reducing the symptoms of vection-induced motion sickness, and that the mechanism of this effect involves inhibition of a specific peripheral response, i.e., gastric tachyarrhythmia, in response to the conflicting visual-vestibular inputs produced by a rotating optokinetic drum.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- Animals
- Dimenhydrinate
- Gizzard
- Motion Sickness
- Rotation
- Stomach
- Stomach Diseases
- NASA Discipline Neuroscience
- NASA Discipline Number 16-10
- NASA Program Space Physiology and Countermeasures
- Non-NASA Center
Other ID:
UI: 102212624
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